Didn't see thread for this film that debuted in Toronto last year at a film festival and comes out domestically on April 4, 2025. Stars Paul Walter Hauser, Baby Billy Freeman, and Arya Stark and tells the tale of a guy who figured out how to game the system on the old 1980s game show " Press Your Luck". I've linked the trailer below, but highly recommend you also watch the first video - the actual 2-episode extravaganza featuring this guy in 1984.
If you don't remember the game or weren't alive then, you answered questions and then everyone got "spins" on this board of rapidly changing boxes that had dollar amounts, more spins, trips / prizes, and the proverbial "Whammies" - if you landed on one of those, your lost all your money and prizes, so you had to figure out when to bail.
Anyway, the show said that the light-up board was completely randomized, but this guy named Michael Larson, who was sort of a con artist, got obsessed with the show, started recording it everyday, and figured out that there were 5 distinct patterns that the board went in. He started studying it and eventually could predict when it was going to land on good money / prize spots / free spins by using the pause button on the VCR remote.
He finally drove out to LA, made up a story to get himself on an episode in the summer of '84. It took him a few times to get comfortable using the buzzer thing instead of his VCR remote. He hit a Whammy on his very first try, but once he got going, HOLY FORKING SHIRT BALLS
He spun 45 times in a row - I don't think either of the other contestants went more than 3 or 4, and wound up winning $102,000. He eventually stopped because, according to an interview, he was exhausted LOL.
They had to split the episode over 2 days because he didn't stop winning. The whole thing is on YouTube (40 minutes). You should really watch at least the hot streak. The reactions of the other players and the host are just hilarious. The hot streak starts around the 13 minute mark
If you don't remember the game or weren't alive then, you answered questions and then everyone got "spins" on this board of rapidly changing boxes that had dollar amounts, more spins, trips / prizes, and the proverbial "Whammies" - if you landed on one of those, your lost all your money and prizes, so you had to figure out when to bail.
Anyway, the show said that the light-up board was completely randomized, but this guy named Michael Larson, who was sort of a con artist, got obsessed with the show, started recording it everyday, and figured out that there were 5 distinct patterns that the board went in. He started studying it and eventually could predict when it was going to land on good money / prize spots / free spins by using the pause button on the VCR remote.
He finally drove out to LA, made up a story to get himself on an episode in the summer of '84. It took him a few times to get comfortable using the buzzer thing instead of his VCR remote. He hit a Whammy on his very first try, but once he got going, HOLY FORKING SHIRT BALLS
He spun 45 times in a row - I don't think either of the other contestants went more than 3 or 4, and wound up winning $102,000. He eventually stopped because, according to an interview, he was exhausted LOL.
They had to split the episode over 2 days because he didn't stop winning. The whole thing is on YouTube (40 minutes). You should really watch at least the hot streak. The reactions of the other players and the host are just hilarious. The hot streak starts around the 13 minute mark
